On Death and Dying

We live in a society that doesn’t like to talk about dying, let alone plan for the care people would like to receive at the end of their life. We know that one of the greatest barriers to receiving quality care at the end of life is a lack of knowledge and preparation.

We are well aware that people don’t like to talk about the end stage of their lives and, unless they have had some direct experience with palliative care, they tend not to know what support is available. This lack of understanding often extends to family or loved ones who can often be integral in decision making when the time comes.

It is true that the whole notion of death is confronting. Thinking about dying and talking about death is difficult for most Australians; it is not something that we want to do.

However, although something is difficult, can we afford to ignore it?

Death is an experience we will all go through and it is important that we have thought about the end stage of our lives, talked about it with our loved ones and planned for it.

Palliative Care ACT wants to encourage people to think about where they would like to be when they die, who they want to be present and, importantly, communicating this to family and loved ones.